Penn State wrestling: Levi Haines predicted to win 2nd NCAA title after weight class change

Penn State wrestling is once again projected to win the team National Championship in 2025, with multiple Nittany Lions bringing home individual national titles as well. Levi Haines won his first National Championship last spring after finishing as the NCAA Runner-Up in 2023. Now Haines will be jumping up two weight classes. However, one notable wrestling analyst thinks he is still the favorite to once again finish atop the podium at the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia this coming March.

Levi Haines finds new role in Penn State wrestling lineup

Levi Haines won the 2024 National Championship at 157 pounds. Many knew Haines had to cut weight severely on that championship run. So this summer, the junior bumped up to a more natural weight for international competitions and, ultimately, this upcoming season. Christian Pyles was so impressed by Haines’ transformation this offseason that he chose the Nittany Lion as his National Champion at 174 pounds when previewing the weight classes on a recent episode of FloWrestling Radio Live.

“What I saw at the World Team Trials, I was like, that is enough for me,” Pyles said. “…When you are looking for something, looking for a reason [to pick a champion], Levi gave me a lot of reasons. It looked like a guy that had built up into the weight with intent and purpose, and it had an impact.”

© Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images

Pyles was especially impressed with Haines’ performance at September’s US Senior World Team Trials, where he defeated two-time NCAA Champion Keegan O’Toole of Missouri, who is also transitioning to 174 this year.

“Keegan is the Junior World Champ in freestyle,” Pyles continued. “Keegan is the guy with markedly better freestyle accolades than Levi Haines, and he got beat. And he got beat, not on a bad day. He got beat on a day he beat David Carr…I think Levi is going to be undefeated going into the NCAA Finals.”

Many predict that the two wrestlers will once again face each other in the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia this spring, with a high probability of the match taking place in the NCAA Final.

Haines chases second consecutive championship

Haines finished 2024 with an undefeated 23-0 record and a bonus percentage of 65.22%, cruising to his first national title as a sophomore. This followed his true freshman season, during which he went 27-2 and fell in the NCAA Finals to No. 1 seed Austin O’Connor of North Carolina.

Now, Haines will look to join an elite list by winning his second National Championship in a row. With a 50-2 career record, the third-year Nittany Lion has an excellent chance to finish undefeated again at his new weight and compete for the Dan Hodge Trophy. Haines is just one of several from the Penn State wrestling program who many find themselves on the prestigious award’s watch list this season, including Mitchell Mesenbrink, Carter Starocci, and Greg Kerkvliet.

Per Cael Sanderson at Penn State wrestling media day Monday, Haines, along with several other standouts, likely will not appear in the Nittany Lions’ season opener against Drexel on Sunday after competing in Saturday’s NWCA All-Star Classic.

To replace Haines at 157, Sanderson noted that Alex Facundo is making the drop from 165 to 157 this season to contend for the starting spot. The Nittany Lions coaching staff will use the first few months of competition to ultimately determine who will become the starter.

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